1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the means of production of high-silicate inorganic continuous, staple and coarse fibers, and scaly particles of natural acidic rock minerals and also to products manufactured of said fibers, namely continuous, staple and coarse fibers and scaly particles.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of high-silicate inorganic fibers, made of natural acidic rocks, as raw materials, enables production of ecologically safe, resistant to atmospheric effects construction materials, which may serve as substitutes for asbestos, glass, metal, wood, etc. Therefore, the need in such materials is increasing.
In terms of silicon content, the rocks are divided into: ultrabasic (1), basic (2), medium (3), and acidic (4). There are many publications and patents, both national and foreign ones, describing methods and arrangements for obtaining inorganic fibers of rocks 1, 2, 3. Meanwhile, the author is not aware of any publications or patents describing methods and arrangements for obtaining inorganic fibers of acidic rocks (4). In fact, predominance of one of the main silicon (Si) oxides in the rock contents results in significantly altered properties of fibers obtained thereof, namely, in terms of strength, heat and chemical resistance. For example, high-silicate glass fiber S-2, which comprises over 95% of silica SiO2 and is obtained by way of treating glass fiber with hot acid, is 40% stronger that the glass E with 55% content of SiO2. Therefore, proposing means for using acidic rocks as raw materials, with a view to their almost inexhaustible deposits in the Earth, will enable production of high-module composite materials which would be much cheaper compared to cost intensive, expensive method of producing high-silicate glass fiber S.
There is known the method of producing continuous fiber of rocks, including the operations of rock fragmentation, melting in a melting furnace and drawing of continuous fiber from the melt through spinneret (Russian Federation Patent 2102342, IPC 6 C03B37/00, publication date 20 Jan. 1998). In the described method the rocks used are basalt group rocks, from basic to medium in contents, and the temperature in the furnace is in the range of 1500 to 1600° C.
The fibers produced with the use of this method have insufficient rupture strength due to presence of foreign inclusions with melting point higher than the melting temperature of the general mass of the rock.
A method of continuous high-silicate inorganic fibers production of rocks including the operations of fragmented rocks feeding to a melting furnace, rock melting, melt homogenization, further stabilization of the melt in the melting furnace feeder, fiber drawing, lubricating and winding onto bobbins is disclosed in Ukraine Patent No. 10762, IPC 6 C03B 37/00, publication date 25 Dec. 1998, bulletin No. 6.
The drawback of the described method is in that continuous fibers produced of andesite rock using this method have insufficient rupture strength caused by the presence of foreign inclusions, which can not be removed from the melt due to insufficient temperature range limited by the boiling point of the general mass of fractured rock. Such insufficient strength causes decreasing of the fibers length, their breaking in the process of winding onto bobbin, which limit the technological potential of the method.
A method of staple fibers production of rocks including the operations of fragmented rocks feeding to a melting furnace, rock melting, melt homogenization, further stabilization of the melt in the melting furnace feeder, and obtaining the staple fiber of melt flowing out of spinneret is disclosed in D. D. Dzhigiris, A. K. Volynskyi, P. P. Kozlovskyi, Yu. N. Dem'yanenko, M. F. Makhova, G. M. Lizogub. Fundamentals of basalt fibers production technology and basalt fibers properties.—In the collection of scientific papers: Basalt fiber composite materials and structures.—Kiev: Naukova Dumka.—1980—P. 54-81.
The drawback of the described method is in that staple fibers produced with the use of this method have insufficient rupture strength caused by the presence of foreign inclusions, which can not be removed from the melt due to insufficient temperature range used that is limited by the boiling point of the general mass of fractured rock. Such insufficient strength causes decreasing of the fibers length, which limit the technological potential of the method.
A method including the operations of fragmented rocks feeding to a melting furnace, melting, melt homogenization, further stabilization of the melt in the melting furnace feeder, and obtaining the scaly particles of melt flowing out of spinneret is disclosed in Russian Federation Patent No. 1831856, IPC 6 C03B37/02, B22F9/02, publication date 27 Mar. 1995, bulletin No. 9.
The drawback of the described method is in that scaly particles produced according to this method have insufficient chemical resistance and rupture strength caused by the presence of foreign inclusions, which can not be removed from the melt due to insufficient temperature range used that is limited by the boiling point of the general mass of fractured rock. Such insufficient strength and chemical resistance limit the technological potential of the method. Another drawback of the method is impossibility to control fractional composition of scaly particles obtained. Thus, the output percentage of homogenous fraction of needed dispercity and thickness of scaly particles turns to be low.
A production line comprising rock dosing unit, melting furnace, feeder, spinneret with the feeder for outputting the fiber, mechanism for applying a lubricant onto fibers and bobbin for winding the fibers is disclosed in Russian Federation Patent No. 2118300, IPC 6 C03B 37/00, publication date 27 Aug. 1998.
The drawback of the described production line is in insufficient strength of fibers produced thereon. The reason is primarily in melting furnace operating temperature range limited by 1450° C. At this temperature it is not possible to remove inclusions from the melt. After obtaining and cooling the fibers such inclusions become tension concentrators and cause early destruction of a fiber, for instance, when a fiber is wound on a bobbin.
Continuous fiber produced of natural rock materials is disclosed in Ukraine Patent No. 10762, IPC 6 C03B 37/00, publication date 25 Dec. 1998, bulletin No. 6.
Described fibers have insufficient rupture strength due to foreign inclusions present there.
Staple fiber produced of rocks is disclosed in D. D. Dzhigiris, A. K. Volynskyi, P. P. Kozlovskyi, Yu. N. Dem'yanenko, M. F. Makhova, G. M. Lizogub. Fundamentals of basalt fibers production technology and basalt fibers properties.—In the collection of scientific papers: Basalt fiber composite materials and structures.—Kiev: Naukova Dumka.—1980—P. 54-81.
But it does not appear possible to produce staple fiber of acidic rocks according to the proposed method due to low temperature in the furnace and large quantity of foreign inclusions.
Described staple fibers have large quantity of non-fibrous inclusions and insufficient length of fibers, which limit the technological potential of described staple fibers.
Fine scaly particles produced of natural rock materials are disclosed in Russian Federation Patent No. 1831856, IPC 6 C03B37/02, B22F9/02, publication date 27 Mar. 1995, bulletin No. 9.
Described fine scaly particles have insufficient strength due to foreign inclusions present therein.